Garfield's Key Caper
by wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: Another Garfield one-shot. Jon has trouble finding his keys when he and the guys have to make a trip to the Arbuckle family farm and look after it for two weeks while his mother is out of town taking care of his father and brother. Please read and review!


**Author's Note: Here's another Garfield one-shot I've got in mind, folks!**

**This one is inspired by a series of key-related strips, mainly ones where Jon misplaces his keys.**

**I don't own _Garfield. _****Paws Inc. ****and ****Jim Davis ****does.**

* * *

It was a warm spring morning in Muncie, Indiana when the phone call from the Arbuckle farm arrived.

Jon was busy in his home office finishing up a comic strip while Lyman was doing the laundry when the telephone rang, and he sighed as he got up from his chair and made his way towards the kitchen.

The cartoonist frowned when he saw the caller ID on the telephone, and he swiftly picked it up.

"Hello?" Jon answered.

A pause went by before he said, "Hey Mom, how are you?"

Another pause went by before he added, "I'm doing well, thanks for asking. Garfield sure misses your cooking, but anywho, what's the occasion?"

Some minutes went by before the frown on Jon's face deepened. "Oh."

Another pause went by before he added, "Is that right? How's Dad?"

As Jon was speaking, Garfield and Odie were finished drinking the water from their bowls and decided to join Jon at the telephone.

Noticing the worried look on Jon's face, Garfield turned towards Odie.

"Seems like Jon's got a family emergency from the farm to deal with, Odie." He said. "After all, his parents never calls him outside of holidays."

Odie grunted as Jon remarked with a frown, "You're kidding, Mom. Doc Boy too?"

Another pause went by before Jon sighed, covered the mouthpiece of the telephone and turned towards Garfield and Odie.

"Doc Boy's never the brightest tool in the shed." Jon said to them. "How does one sprain an ankle simply by pressing on the gas pedal of his car?"

"Coming from someone who thought that he was adopted by his family." Garfield rolled his eyes as Jon returned to the phone.

"Sure, Mom." Jon said. "I suppose Lyman and I could use a trip to the barn again while you're out of town checking on Dad and Doc Boy."

Another pause went by before Jon nodded. "Alright. Take care, Mom. Say hi to Dad and Doc Boy for me, and tell them that I wish 'em well."

Jon exhaled as he hung up the telephone, then he turned towards Garfield and Odie.

"Better pack up, boys." He said. "Dad and Doc Boy are out of town in the hospital, which means we're staying at the family farm for two weeks to take care of it while Mom's away."

Almost immediately, Garfield and Odie both passed out from the news, and Jon deadpanned at the sight.

"I think you boys are being over-dramatic." He sighed.

* * *

A short while later, Jon and Lyman have finished packing up their luggage and were getting ready to load them up onto the car.

"I gotta say, Jon." Lyman remarked as he tugged his two suitcases to the front door. "I've always been looking forward to see what your family farm is like."

"It's pretty much just like any other farm, especially with no cable television, no computers and old-fashioned telephones." Jon remarked.

"I suppose it explains why the boys passed out when you broke the news to them about our two-week stay at the farm." Lyman interjected.

"You can say that again, Lyman." Jon agreed as he reached into his pocket for the car keys. "Only reason why they enjoy the farm is because of Mom's cooking, but she's gonna be out of town during the whole stay."

"Hence Garfield not looking forward for the trip." Lyman said as he noticed Jon frowning when he noted that the car keys weren't at where he thought they were at.

Patting his pockets, Jon took out his wallet before reaching into his pockets and tried to feel for his car keys.

"Lyman, do you remember seeing me grabbing the car keys when I carried our luggage here?" Jon asked.

"Nah." Lyman shook his head and frowned. "It might be still at the usual spot."

"Sure, I'll go check again, just in case." Jon nodded.

* * *

Five minutes later, Jon returned to Lyman.

"It's odd, Lyman." Jon said. "I've checked and double-checked the usual spots I've always placed the car keys, but I can't find them anywhere."

Glancing towards Garfield and Odie standing at the nearby living room, Lyman said, "Then, chances are that Garfield hid the car keys somewhere in the house so that we won't be able to make the trip to your family farm."

"I should've figured that." Jon grumbled. "In this case, I'm gonna search the whole house for the car keys."

"In the meantime, I should get the laundry into the dryer." Lyman offered when he heard that the washing machine finishing its final rinse.

"Go for it, then." Jon nodded as he took his leave. "Perhaps you can help me search for the car keys when you finish loading the dryer."

"Sounds like a plan, Lyman." Jon agreed.

* * *

Eventually, as Jon began searching through the corners of the living room for the car keys, Lyman had finished loading the dryer and made his way up the stairs.

As the dryer began drying the clothes inside, there were a series of loud noises accompanying the rolling.

"Gee wiz." Lyman remarked as he reached the living room. "Sounds like someone may have forgotten to empty his pockets before placing the laundry in the washing machine and dryer."

Garfield and Odie glanced at each other, during which Jon arrived from the kitchen triumphantly.

"It took me fifteen minutes, Lyman." Jon said to Lyman as he held up the car keys and continued, "Garfield sure did a great job hiding the car keys, but I've found them now!"

"About time, Jon." Lyman said. "Tell you what: I go start the car up while you get the luggage ready to be loaded."

"Sounds good." Jon nodded as he tossed the car keys to Lyman, who caught them with a scoop.

As Lyman made his way out the door, Jon turned towards Garfield and Odie and folded his arms.

"You really think you're clever, eh, Garfield?" He asked. "You hid the car keys, and yet I found them."

Before Jon could continue, Lyman entered through the front door and asked, "Say Jon, where's the car?"

"The car?" Jon asked. "Isn't it supposed to be parked in the garage?"

"I checked, and it isn't in the garage." Lyman shook his head. "Nor is it in the driveway or on the street."

"You're kidding, right?" Jon remarked as he followed Lyman out of the house, during which Garfield turned towards Odie.

"The game is afoot, Odie!" Garfield said.

Odie nodded and smirked.

* * *

A short while later, Jon and Lyman have returned home after they've located the car.

"I can't believe that Garfield is capable of parking the car half a city away and make it home without having to break a sweat!" Jon exclaimed.

"Oh, well." Lyman shrugged. "At least we got the car back, Jon. Let's take off before the afternoon rush hour traffic hits."

"Right." Jon nodded as he and Lyman picked up their luggage.

As they prepared to load the luggage onto the car trunk, Jon turned to Garfield and added, "Garfield, it's only a two-week stay at the family barn while Mom's out of town. It's not the end of the world, you know."

"Sure, no television, no computers and no nice cooking from Mom." Garfield rolled his eyes. "That's just fun."

Eventually, the four were seated in the car and Jon was about to start the engine when Lyman asked, "Say, did you remember to lock the front door, Jon?"

Jon blinked. "Let me go check just in case."

He then got off the car, walked over to the front door and turned the door knob, almost immediately opening the door as a result.

Glancing at Lyman, Garfield and Odie, Jon exhaled.

"How come I didn't think of this?" He remarked.

Jon then reached into his pocket for his house keys, only to feel nothing inside other than his wallet.

"Uh..." Jon patted his pockets. "Now where do you suppose I've put my keys?"

Turning towards the trio, Jon raised a finger as he said, "I'll be right back, guys! Just need to go find my house keys."

Garfield, Odie and Lyman glanced at each other before the former suggested, "Let's go help Jon out, boys."

"Knowing that dimwit, I'm sure he's gonna take forever to find his keys." Garfield remarked.

* * *

Soon, Garfield and Odie were standing in the living room as Jon and Lyman searched around the house for the former's house keys.

After a while, Jon and Lyman have decided to take a break and joined the boys in the living room.

"You know, we could just use my keys, Jon." Lyman offered as he held his house keys up.

"Appreciate it, Lyman." Jon said. "But I could've sworn I've seen my house keys somewhere earlier."

"Could Garfield had hidden them somewhere?" Lyman asked.

"I doubt it." Jon shrugged. "Either way, it's really strange that we can't find my keys anywhere."

During this time, the noisy sound from the dryer continued on, and Jon and Lyman glanced at each other.

"And what on earth is this racket?" Jon added as he tried to pinpoint the source of the noise.

At this point, Garfield frowned at Jon. "Have you checked the dryer, dimwit?"

* * *

Eventually, the group were on their way to the Arbuckle family farm after Lyman hinted that Jon might've forgotten to take his keys out of his pocket.

"Well, packing up and getting ready to go took longer than expected, guys." Jon said as he stopped at a red light. "But at least we're on the road now."

"Yeah." Lyman agreed. "Hopefully, the traffic isn't gonna be so bad."

"I doubt it." Jon said. "After all, it's barely into the early afternoon, so traffic shouldn't be too bad."

As Jon was speaking, Garfield looked forward and frowned.

"I wouldn't say that if I were you, Jon." Garfield raised a finger.

Sure enough, after driving through a few blocks and making it to the highway, they find themselves stuck in a massive traffic jam.

"Oh, are you kidding me?!" Jon exclaimed as they saw several flashing lights up ahead. "There just happened to be a serious car accident up ahead?!"

"Hey, at least we're not the ones involved in the accident, Jon." Lyman said.

It was then that someone's stomach growled, and the four glanced at each other.

"In the meantime, I don't know about you, Jon, but something's telling me that we should stop for lunch." Lyman said.

"Sure." Jon moaned as he saw just how much the traffic up ahead is barely moving. "Though at this pace, we might as well as have dinner by the time the traffic up ahead clears up."

* * *

**Please read and review!**


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